Ignition apparatus



J. L. ARTHUR April 14, 1931.

IGNITION APPARATUS Filed June 13, 192'? Patented Apr.l 14, 1931 JAMES L. ARTHUR, F ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB T0 DELOO-REMY CORPORATION;

or DAYTON; omo, A conronarron or DELAWARE IGNITIONv arr-Annes Application led June 18,

This invention relates to ignition apparatus for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to ignition apparatus for automobiles in which a storage battery is used to supply current for the engine startinmotor and also for the ignition apparatus.

the diagram of Fig. 1.

ne of the objects of the present invention is to obtain suflicient energy from the ignition coil for satisfactory ignition during the cranking of the engine, although the voltage impressed by the battery'at the terminals of the rimary ignition circuit may bef-below normal.) In this invention, this object is accomplished by roviding anignition coil having two sets og) primary windin s which are connected in multiple with the attery during the cranking operation and in series with the batte durin the normal running of the engine. lgV'hen 51e primar rwindings are connected in parallel the ignition coil will be energized to the same extent at one-half battery voltage as when the coil windmgs are connected 1n series with a battery at normal voltage. This ignition system therefore provides satisfactor' ignition durin engine cranking althoug the battery may e partly discharged and considerably belowsfnormal voltage, especially when required also to supply current toan electric starting device. t

Another object of the present invention 1s to wind the primary of an ignition coil in such a way as to provide for making connections at one end of the coil with, a switch for changing the connections o the primary windin from parallel to series.

Furt er objects and advantages' of the resent invention will'be apparent from the ollowing description, reference being had to the accompan in drawings, wherein a preferred form o em odiment of the present mvention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: c Fig. 1 is a wiring diagram of an ignition system embodying the present invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views showing other positions of a switch included in Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a unit lncluding the coil and switch shown'dia.- grammatically in the other views.

'wire turn is severed in order generator attains a certain voltage and dis- 1927. Serial No. 198,082.

Referring to Fig. 4, 2O designates the center core of an ignition coil, and the core is surrounded by a secondary windin 21 wound upon a non-conducting tube 22. round the secondary 21 there is Wound a primary coil 23 comprising four layers 24, 25, 26 Iand 27, 24 being the innermost and 27 the outermost. In the wiring diagram, the core is shown in five different places in order that the coils 21, 24, 25, 26 and 27 may be shown separately. The start turn of the coil 24 is connected with the outside turn of the secondary coil 21 as indicated by the dot 30 and both of these turns are connected together with a switch contact 31. The inside turn ofthe secondary coil 21 is grounded to core 20 which is connected byva lead 32 with the centerY contact 33 of a distributor head 34 havin/ga circular row of terminals 35 connected'with engine spark plugs 36. A rotor 37 cooperates with center contact 33 to distribute sparking impulses to the various terminals 35. The outside lead 40 of the coil 27 is connected with a switch contact 41 and also by wire 42 with a terminal 43 which is connected with an ignition timer 44 grounded at 45. The switch contact 31 is connected by wire 46 with a terminal 47 which may be connected with a battery 48 grounded at 49.- In the usual operation ofv Winding the core layers of primary coils the end lead of the coil layer 25 would be joined with a start lead of 'the coil layer 26 by a wire turn indicated in Fig. 1 by a dot and dash line 50. This to form portions 50a and 5011 which are connected respectively with switch contacts 51 and 52. The stationary contacts of the switch operate with movable contacts 53 and 54 which are carried by a non-conducting carrier 55 which may be rotated by any suitable operating handle which will be described later in connection with Fig. 4. A reverse current relay connects a battery-charging, engine-driven generator 61 grounded at 62 with the battery 48 when the connects the battery from the enerator when the Voltage of the latter falls elow a certain value.

When the switch contacts are in oli posibe disconnected from the battery. Duringthe starting of the engine the switch contacts 53 and 54 are moved into start position shown in Fig. 1 in order to contact in parallel with the battery 48, the primary winding comprising coils 24 and 25 and the primary winding comprising coils 26 and 27 In Fig. 1, the arrows 70 which are used to' indicate the direction of current from the battery clearly indicate these parallel'circuits, the junction points of which are at contacts 31 and 41. This connection will reduce the resistance of the primaryV circuit so that the total ampere turns in the primary circuit will be as much with a batteryfat half voltage, as would be available from a battery at vfull voltage if the battery is connected with the primary windingsin series. Thus suiicient coil energy for satisfactory ignition may be obtained from a partially discharged battery.

After the engine has become self-operative and it has attained a 'speed suliicient to operate its battery charging generator 61 at normal voltage, the switch contacts 53 and 54 may be moved into the run position shown in Fig. ,3 in which contact 54 is outof engagement with the stationary contactzand the contact V53 bridges the contacts 51 and 52. This circuit change will cause all of the primary windings to be connected in series so as to increase the resistance of the primary ignition circuit when normal voltage of the generator 61 is impressed upon it. When this connection is made current will ow through the battery 48 in the direction of arrow 70 into Contact 31 and thence through the coil layers Y 24 and 25 to the contact 51 as indicated by the arrow 70. From Contact 51 current flows through contact 53 to the Contact 52 and thence through wire to the coil layers 26 and 27 to the contact 41 as indicated by the arrow 70. It will be noted that current flows in the same direction through the coil layers 24 to 27 inclusive regardless of whether the., switch is in the start or run pos1t1on.-U4

Thus the effect of the coil is always cumulative regardless whether they are connected in parallel or in series.

the bringing out of all the coil leads 39,5061. 505Y and 40 kat one end of the coil assembly so that they may all be conveniently connected -with a switch located at one end of the coil. This construction permits the advantageous use of an ignition coil and switch unit as an embodiment of the present invention. This unit will now be described with reference to Fig. 4. The central core 2O extends into recesses provided by non-conducting bodies 8O and 81 which are attached to a tubular metal case'82 Vand cooperate therewith to provide an enclosure for the coil assem'blyand also an external magnetic circuit provided by a The present invention provides further'forplurality of turns of sheet iron 83 separated by paper insulation 84. The member 81 is attached to a sheet metal cover 85 and'carries a cable-receiving sleeve 86 extending through a central hole in the cover 85 and provided .internally with a metal lining 87 which provides the high tension terminal 32 shown in the diagram. The metal lining 87 is connected by aV pin 88 with the Vcore 2() upon which the ins1de turn of the secondary 21 is grounded. The body 81 and the cover 85 also support the terminals 47 and 43 shown diarammatically in Fig. 1. The cover 85 is ]oined to the case 82 by spinning its llange 89 around a flange 90 of the case 82.

The body 8O is attached to the case 82 by spinning into the case two annular grooves 91 and 92 which provide on the inside of the case annular` ridges 91a and 92a between which the body 80 is clamped. The case 82 also has an extension`93 for receiving a cylinfrom Vthe contacts 3 1 and 41 respectively to the terminals 43 and 47 respectively .may be encased within non-conducting fabric sleeves extending lengthwise of the case 82. One of the sleeves is designated by numeral 100 in Fig. 4. Actually the case 82 need not be bulged as shown in Fig. 4 to accommodate the sleeve 100; this bulge is shown for sake of convenience to provide room for showing t-he sleeve 100 which, in practice, would be flat- .tenel' between the primary winding 23 and the external magnet iron 83.

The. key shaft 97 may be turned only by the -use of the proper keyV 98 cooperating with bars 99v to withdrawall of them from grooves 101 provided by the switch frame 94.

It is therefore apparent from the forego ing description, my invention and mode of operationk that I have provided an ignition system for Vobtaining satisfactoryV ignition vfor engine startingfrom a storage battery or other current source which may be below' normal voltage; and I have alsoprovided a unitary coil and lock switch structure embodying the features of my ignition system and so constructed and arranged that it may be connected with a current source, ignition timer and ignition distributor in the same manner in which the conventional ignition coil is connected with these instruments. lVhile the 'form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that y otherl forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is 4claimed is as follows:

| 1. An ignition coil comprising in combination, a Casin a coil assembly having a secondary win ing, a lurality of primar windings wound seria y upon said secon ary, the starting and ending convolutions of ,o the primary windingrj all terminating ad'acent one end of the casing, a switch providing a cover for the casing and electrically inserted between the primary windings, a partition member disposed between the ,5 switch and windings and roviding terminalsfor the windings accessi le to the switch, said switch being adapted to open and close circuits through said i ition coil, and to couple the 1.primary win ings either in series zo or in ara el relation.

2. unitary structure providing an easy starting ignition coil for explosive engines com rising in combination, a plurality of win ings inductively related, one of said g5 windings being electrically divisible into parts, means ri idly supportin said windings and provi ing terminals or each part thereof, a casing enclosing said windings and sup orting means, and roviding a chamber 30 wit in which one of said supporting means is disposal and the terminals of said divisible winding are accessible, a lock controlled movable contact with supporting frame closing off said chamber, said movable contact u disposed for cooperation with said accessible terminals, and means whereby the relation of said winding parts may be altered for starting and runmng i nitions.

In testimony whereo I hereto aiiix my sign nature.

JAMES L. ARTHUR. 

